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York city fire boxes to be extinguished?

City council will consider a request by the acting fire chief to remove the pole-mounted fire boxes.

By TIM STONESIFER Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
02/27/2013 12:12:30 AM EST

York, PA -

York City Council is set to consider a request to begin dismantling a fire alarm system that has been in place in the city for more than 100 years.

The city's Gamewell system -- some 320 of those little red boxes on poles and businesses -- has become increasingly difficult to maintain, and ever more costly for a cash-strapped city fire department now looking to the future, Acting Fire Chief David Michaels said Tuesday.

The system went online in York in the 1880s, Michaels said. But with today's technology, there are other options to report a fire that are just as fast yet considerably less costly, he said.

"It's an old system that's still effective," he said. "But when you weigh everything, it's time to look at eliminating it."

Michaels said city business owners are currently required to hook into the system, something he called a "pretty substantial cost for them." The city must also pay for repairs to the aging system, he said, and it's hard to find the needed parts.

"We're just not able to keep it up like it should be," he said.

Michaels will speak to the city council on Wednesday, asking the five-member board to remove the ordinance requiring the system. That's the first step in a phasing-out that could be complete by the summer of 2014, he said.

A 2010 study prepared by Maryland-based Public Safety Solutions recommended removal of York's Gamewell boxes, noting among other things a high rate of false alarms. A historian said at the time the boxes had been removed from Philadelphia and Harrisburg, with New York City soon to follow.

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Then-Chief Steve Buffington said he saw both sides of the argument, noting the inherent costs but also the speed of the old system.

Across the county, former Hanover Fire Commissioner James Roth said in 2010 his department was actually considering expanding the use of Gamewell boxes.

"It's the absolute fastest way to get word to the fire department," he said. "Period. End of story."

Michaels stressed this week that even without the boxes, city businesses still will be well-served by the county's 911 system, adding many also pay for private services such as ADT. If approved, the boxes would eventually be taken down and sold.

"This system would just go away," he said, "but we're not going to leave anybody without some sort of alarm system."

@timstonesifer; 771-2032

If you go What: York City Council committee work session

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: City Council Chambers, 101 S. George St., York

About Gamewell boxes

The Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Company was formed in 1879 by owner John N. Gamewell, according to an online company history.

By 1886, Gamewell systems -- municipal electric fire alarm systems run through telegraph wires -- were installed in 250 cities across America and in Canada. Four years later, that number climbed to 500.

Today, the company exists as Gamewell-FCI by Honeywell, and still offers a range of products for building fire alarm systems.

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